Introduction -- Before the cataclysm: a profile of French capitalism in 1913 -- The economy at war -- Counting the cost -- Reconstruction -- The battle for the franc -- The industrial boom of the 1920s and its contradictions -- The impact of the Depression, 1931-36 -- The Blum experiment, 1936-37 -- The problems of agriculture -- The closing stages, 1937-39 -- The balance sheet of a decline.